[gmw]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

I was concerned because with all the blood a lot of people thought the guy lying in bed was dead and the book was a murder mystery. (It's a suspense thriller.) So I did a version without the blood. Thanks.

Okay, so I no longer think he's been shot. (Sure the hand out to the glass thing might have been proof of life, but with all that blood in the previous images it was certainly not my first reaction.)

I think this latest is more appropriate to a suspense thriller. (I was going to say that a bit of blood wouldn't have hurt the image, but since his eyes are closed I suspect any blood is going to give an impression of mortal injury, and a small amount is going to be lost in thumbnail view - so I think you are probably right in removing it all.)

The concern now is whether the more sedate image is too sedate for what you wanted - why's this guy sleeping when the girl is screaming? Okay, so he's not sleeping, he's reaching for the glass ... but somehow the image doesn't give the impression of movement, which is why it was so easy to assume he was dead previously. (He makes an elegant corpse or sleeping beauty; he does not look like a man struggling.)

I don't have a problem with the yellow background to the title, except my previously mentioned thought that a gradient might be appropriate. On the other hand, I can see the advantage (that you mentioned) of clarity in thumbnails with what you have now. (Still not sure about that screaming face behind the title.)

While this latest version will still stand out from your other covers, I no longer think it will clash so harshly.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've said the yellow background with the title doesn't work. Yet it's still there.

Please don't get offended. Even if someone asks you directly, personally, for an opinion, they are not obliged to act on it. On a forum, where the request is not direct or personal, acting on every opinion would not only be unwise, it is more often than not impossible.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I have seen a couple of sunrises but very few. I am not a morning person.

Nor I, though I do see more sunrises than I'd like - from the wrong side (the sun coming up as I'm heading to bed).